In recent years various forms of surgical stapling tools have been introduced to surgeons and others in the medical treatment community. Experience with these tools has shown that although stapling tools are often a great improvement over prior suturing techniques, the tools have exhibited shortcomings that should be addressed in newer tool designs.
For example, many surgeons have found that in using a stapling tool it is preferable to partially dispense and crimp a staple, so that the staple extends from the tool and the placement of the staple points can be visualized easily. This action requires that the tool is capable of partially forming the staple and retaining the staple in that disposition. Unfortunately, some surgical stapling tools cannot perform this function, due to the fact that a partially formed staple is held too loosely in the tool jaws to permit effective placement of the staple in the partially formed configuration. In other tools, interruption of a dispensing cycle can cause the tool to initiate a new dispensing cycle, resulting in jamming of the mechanism.
Also, surgeons demand a tool that is jam-proof and trustworthy; obviously, a tool that fails during surgery creates delays and frustrations that are aggravating, costly, potentially dangerous, and completely unacceptable. Many prior art surgical stapling tools have complex mechanisms involving many components, close tolerances, and critical engagements. Factors such as thermal dimensional changes, casual impact to the tool, or erratic manufacturing techniques can cause prior art tools to jam and fail.
A further criticism of prior art tools involves their "feel" and ease of use. The feel of the tool is an intangible quality that involves such factors as the ability to visualize the staple placement, the mechanical advantage of the tool mechanism, the relationship between manual movement and progress in the staple dispensing cycle, the smoothness of actuation of the mechanism, and the like. Also, some mechanisms require a "pre-cocking" motion, before each dispensing cycle, than can introduce an awkward manipulation into the use of the tool.